Sleep disorders are very common. It has been reported that each year around 50 million report trouble with sleeping and 10 million of them seek medical attention. Inadequate sleep can lead to daytime sleepiness and other sleep related problems.
One form of sleep disorder is sleep apnoea, which is defined as a cessation of airflow greater than or equal to 10 seconds 5 times per hour of sleep time. One form of apnoea is obstructive apnoea which is an absence of airflow due to airway obstruction in the upper airway.
Snoring is created by the vibration of the pharyngeal soft tissues as air passes through an airway that is too small to allow for smooth, unimpeded flow. While obstructive apnoea is marked by total airway closure, snoring is a symptom of partial closure or near collapse. Snoring indicates a partial airway obstruction. That is, as the air flows through a partial obstruction, vibration of tissue occurs, creating the sound of snoring. Many times snoring is a warning sign of impending apnoea. Though some snoring is truly benign and merely obnoxious noise, it has been shown that some instances of loud, regular snoring are associated with true medical morbidity even in the absence of overt obstructive apnoea. Due to the exaggerated breathing effort and noise created by the high resistance to airflow in the upper airway and consequential repetitive arousals from sleep, these heavy snorers may exhibit symptoms common to actual obstructive sleep apnoea. The hallmark of obstructive sleep apnoea is snoring, which is intermittent.
Oral appliance therapy is becoming increasingly popular to treat selected cases of sleep disordered breathing. 1While not completely effective in all situations, research is showing that oral appliances are very effective in treating snoring in mild obstructive sleep apnoea. 1 In a preferred form the hollow interior of the device has a general heart shape in cross-section at said neck portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,734 to Snorex, Inc discloses a tongue retaining device which is typically formed of a flexible polyvinyl material and comprises a hollow interior which fits over the forward end of the tongue and with which the tongue is held forward by negative pressure created with the device. The device has a particular shape, is adjustable in relation to engagement with the users face, and requires specialist fitting or the taking of upper and lower jaw impressions of the patient to produce a tailored device for the patient.